Training device comprising an elastic resistance band

ABSTRACT

A training device includes an elastic training band with an integrated strain sensor and an electronic measuring unit. The training device has a thickening formed at ends of the training band, which locally increases the cross-section of the training band.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to an exercise device comprising an elastic exercise band with an integrated strain sensor and an electronic measuring unit.

Such a training device is known from document DE 10 2016 003 697 A1. The training band consists of a stretchable plastic, which is made conductive in a core area by an addition of e.g., carbon-based materials, whereby a resistance of the training band depends on its stretching state. Both ends of the training band are inserted into the electronic measuring unit so that the resistance and thus the stretching state of the training band can be measured and evaluated.

One difficulty here is the sufficiently good connection of the sensorically active core area to the electronic measuring unit. Document DE 10 2016 003 697 A1 describes the advantages of the design associated with a replaceable connection between the band and the electronic measuring unit. The connection or contact between the band and the core material must, however, be sufficiently strong and at the same time provide a good electrical connection in order to deliver valid measurement results. If the contact is made by a fixed electrical conductor, as shown in DE 10 2016 003 697 A1, there is a risk that this electrical contact surface will slip and the measurement results will either be distorted or cannot be collected at all.

In the applications described in the sports sector, forces of 100 N (Newtons) to over 600 N can sometimes be applied. If the training band is merely clamped in the fixed surrounding housing, there is a risk that the band will become detached from the housing due to the cross-sectional constriction under the tensile forces described. If the band is rolled up or folded to counteract this problem, contacting the inner conductor material is made more difficult and the band consumes twice as much installation space as a result. Any application of holes or similar recesses through the band will cause the band to break or be damaged by this application of a predetermined breaking point.

Furthermore, the publication US 2014/0221178 A1 describes a changeable connection of conventional elastic sports bands with a handle. The changeable connection is realized by two opposite wedges, which enclose and thus secure the respective thickened end when the strap is pulled. The problem with this design lies primarily in the large installation space that this device requires. On the other hand, the components of the handle, or more precisely the wedges, must be removable for force locking in order to be able to change the band. The large installation space results on the one hand from the required thickening of the belt and on the other hand from the required wedges, which serve to absorb the force.

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are directed to creating a training device of the type mentioned at the beginning, in which the connection between the training band and the electronic measuring unit is exchangeable, inexpensive, space-saving and durable, taking into account the application of force, and provides a good electrical connection.

According to the invention, the training device is characterized in that a thickening is formed at ends of the training band, which locally enlarges the cross-section of the training band. By thickening the cross-section, the band can be sufficiently clamped to the surrounding or integrated housing. Furthermore, the connection can be applied in a space-saving manner and, in particular, can be thinner than twice the cross-section of the band.

In one embodiment, the thickener may be made of the same base material as the training band. It may then be manufactured integrally with the band. Alternatively, the thickening may be made of a different material than the training band. When using, for example, silicone or a similar material, the thickening may be integrally and materially bonded to the band subsequently or already during the manufacturing process of the training band.

Preferably, the thickening has a tougher or harder material, which can thus be stretched less. A material with a higher Shore hardness enables a connection between the strip and the housing. In addition, the thickening does not pull out of the housing due to a smaller reduction in cross-section under tensile force compared to the band material. The thickening thus forms a stable connection between housing and belt that can withstand tensile forces of well over 100 N.

In a further embodiment of the training device, at least one groove is formed in a housing of the measuring unit, into which the thickening can be inserted, in particular pushed in, in order to create a form-fitting and thus secure connection between the training band and the measuring unit.

Alternatively, or additionally, it may be provided that at least one rib is formed in the housing of the measuring unit which engages in a groove of the thickening. Preferably, several such ribs and associated grooves can be provided in succession, which enable the training band to be securely fastened in the measuring unit under high load and also prevent moisture, dust, and liquid from entering the measuring unit in the manner of a labyrinth seal.

In a further embodiment of the training device, the thickening is electrically conductive and electrically connected to an electrically conductive core area of the training band. If the surrounding material is also electrically conductive or partially electrically conductive, the advantage arises that the connecting piece serves both for mechanical force absorption and, on the other hand, is also electrically conductive and can thus be used for reliable contacting. Thus, the inner strip material is connected to a printed circuit board inside the sensor housing via the conductive thickening.

The printed circuit board can be connected to the conductive connecting material or the thickening of the band via contact surfaces, which may be metallized directly in the manufacturing process. In this way, reliable and cost-effective contact between the band and the measuring unit can be achieved.

A further advantage of the design described is that the thickening allows the band to be changed. This not only ensures valid measurement under high forces, but also enables the band to be changed in a way that conserves resources.

Since the thickening can be applied from the outside, an external shaping of the thickened belt ends is possible. This location can be shaped so that the belt has a local recess in which a securing element engages. This enables mutual securing of the band in the longitudinal direction. Furthermore, the belt can also be secured against lateral slippage by a form-fit connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

The invention is explained in more detail below by means of embodiment examples with the aid of figures. The figures show:

FIG. 1 an isometric view of an training band and a measuring unit of a training device;

FIG. 2 a sectional view of the measuring unit and an end section of the training band according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a top view of the end section of the training band according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 a top view of a printed circuit board of a measuring unit of the training device;

FIG. 5 an isometric exploded view of a training band and a measuring unit of a training device in a second embodiment;

FIG. 6 a sectional view of the measuring unit according to FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 a detailed isometric view of an end portion of the training band according to FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 a top view of a printed circuit board of the measuring unit of the training device according to FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the FIGS. 1 to 3 described below, a first embodiment of a training device with a training band 10 and an electronic measuring unit 20 is shown in various views. FIG. 4 shows a top view of a printed circuit board 23 of the measuring unit 20. In all figures, identical reference signs indicate identical or identically acting elements.

FIG. 1 first shows the training band 10 and the measuring unit 20 separated from each other in an isometric overview. Only the end sections of the training band 10 that are inserted into the measuring unit 20 are shown. The training band 10 is continuous and closed between the end sections shown.

In use, the end portions of the training band 10 are inserted into the measuring unit 20, where they are mechanically attached and electrically contacted. This will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The training band 10 is elastic and can preferably be repeatedly stretched for training purposes. Due to integrated sensor technology, a stretching state of the training band 10 is detected by the measuring unit 20 and either stored in it and/or wirelessly transmitted from it to another unit, for example a cell phone, in the form of data.

FIG. 2 shows a section of the training band 10 and the measuring unit 20 separated from each other in a schematic sectional view.

The training band 10 consists of the band material 11, for example an elastic plastic material, which is made conductive in a core area 12 by adding conductive particles, for example carbon-based or metallic conductive particles. An elongation of the band material 11 leads to a change in resistance of the core area 12, which is detected by the measuring unit 20.

In the end region of the training band 10, the latter is provided with a thickening 13. In the example shown, this comprises a tongue 14 arranged on the end face of the belt material 11. An edging 15 is formed around the band material 11 in the end region, which is connected to the tongue 14 or, if necessary, is also manufactured integrally with the latter, which edging 15 protects the transition region between the band material 11 and the tongue 14 and represents an additional mechanical connection between the band material 11 and the tongue 14.

To connect the training band 10 to the measuring unit 20, the measuring unit 20 has a housing 21 with laterally formed grooves 22. The training band 10 is inserted into each of these grooves 22 with one of the end tongues 14. The groove/tongue connection can be made easily and interchangeably and optionally by inserting the training band 10 with its end section. The training band 10 can thus be exchanged in a simple manner, for example in order to be able to use training bands 10 with different mechanical properties with a measuring unit 20.

In this case, the tongue 14 is made of a material that is also conductive, for example the material of the core area 12, and makes contact with the core area 12. The tongue 14 thus serves not only to mechanically secure the training band 10 in the housing 21 of the measuring unit 20, but also to make contact between the training band 10 and the measuring unit 20.

The measuring unit 20 comprises a printed circuit board 23 on which electrical or electronic functional components of the measuring unit 20 are arranged. The printed circuit board 23 ends laterally in contact surfaces 24, which contact the tongue 14 and thus the training band 10. In this way, by inserting the tongue 14 into the groove 22 of the measuring unit, not only the mechanical but also an electrical connection between the two components is established.

FIG. 3 shows an end region of the training band 10 in a plan view, wherein a recess 16 in the tongue 14 can be seen. The recess 16 can also be formed as an aperture. A bolt, split pin or the like can be inserted into this recess 16 as a securing element in order to fix the tongue 14 there after it has been inserted into the groove 22. The housing 21 of the measuring unit 20 has a corresponding receptacle for the securing element. Instead of a loosely inserted securing element, a latching securing element can also be formed on the housing 21.

FIG. 4 shows an alternatively insertable printed circuit board 23 of the measuring unit 20. In this printed circuit board 23, contact areas 24, which serve to contact the tongue 14, are formed as metallized areas directly on the printed circuit board 23.

FIGS. 5-8 show a second example of a training device with a training belt 10 and a measuring unit 20 in a second embodiment. In this embodiment, identical reference signs indicate elements that are the same or have the same effect as in the first embodiment.

In its basic structure, the training device of the second embodiment corresponds to that of the first embodiment. Explicit reference is hereby made to the figure description for the first embodiment example. In particular, differences between the two embodiment examples are explained below.

FIG. 5 first shows the training device of the second embodiment in an isometric exploded view. FIG. 6 shows a sectional view of the measuring unit 20 of the training device in an assembled state.

Unlike the first embodiment, the training device of the second embodiment is mounted as a fixedly assembled unit, in which the training band 10 is thus not interchangeably arranged in the measuring device 20. Again, the training band 10 has a band material 11 at the ends of which thickenings 13 are arranged. In this embodiment example, the thickenings 13 are preferably also made of an elastomer, i.e., a same or similar material as the core area 12. Advantageously, the material of the thickening 13 has a higher hardness compared to the band material 11 and the material of the core area 12.

Further, the thickening 13 is made of an electrically conductive material. For this purpose, for example, an elastomeric base material can be made conductive by adding conductive particles, for example graphite particles. Preferably, the thickening 13 is injection-molded or molded onto a cut-to-size strip material 11 at the ends in order to form a mechanically loadable, interlocking connection with the strip material 11.

FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the thickening 13. A special feature of the thickening 13 is at least one, in this case two, circumferential grooves 17. These grooves 17 are used to insert the thickening 13 into the housing 21, which in the example shown consists of two housing half-shells. These housing half-shells each have a trough 25 at their end, through which the training band 10 is guided to the outside. Within the half-shells of the housing 21, webs 26 are also formed that engage in the grooves 17 of the thickening 13. The interaction of the webs 26 and the grooves 17 leads to a mechanically highly loadable accommodation of the thickening 13 and thus of the training band in the measuring unit 20. The formation here of two grooves 17 or arrangement of webs 26 lying one behind the other also represents a kind of labyrinth seal, so that penetration of moisture from the side into the measuring unit 20 is prevented.

A transverse slot 18 is made in each of the front end regions of the thickenings 13, into which an edge region of the printed circuit board 23 is inserted. Similar to what has already been described in connection with FIG. 4, the lateral edge areas of this slot have metallized contact surfaces, which make contact with the electrically conductive material of the thickening 13 within the slot 18. Thus, a connection from the circuit board 13 to the conductive core area 12 of the strip material 11 is achieved via the conductive material of the contacting. Thus, a connection is created which has a contacting with defined resistance which does not change even after many load cycles of the training band 10.

After the thickenings 13 have been placed on the circuit board 23 and the unit consisting of the circuit board 23 and the training band 10 or its thickenings 13 has been inserted into the lower of the half shells of the housing 21, the housing 21 can be closed by placing the upper half shell 21 on top. Preferably, contact areas of the two half shells of the housing are glued or welded together in order to seal the housing as hermetically as possible to the outside.

An actuating element 27 is incorporated in the upper housing half shell, preferably integrally formed in an injection molding process, which can be pressed in. Its movement is transmitted to a pushbutton arranged on the circuit board 23, which can be used, for example, to switch the measuring unit on and off. This creates an actuation option that is also hermetically sealed. A connection element 29 is available as an interface to the outside, which is arranged on the circuit board 23 in addition to other components 28.

A possible design of the printed circuit board 23 is shown in a schematic sketch in FIG. 8 in top view. The connection element 29 is accessible from the outside through an opening in the housing 21. It can be, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection element, for example according to the Micro-USB or the USB-C standard, via which power can be supplied for charging a battery of the measuring unit 20. The connection element 29 may be sealed to the outside, for example by providing the portions of the half-shells of the housing 21 that abut against it with a softer sealing lip in a co-extrusion process.

In the second embodiment shown, the thickening 13 has an enclosure 15 in the form of a collar in the direction of the strip material 11, which extends to outside the measuring unit 20. The collar represents a kink protection for the strip material 11 at the edge of the housing 21.

In both previously described embodiments, instead of a training band 10 having a homogeneous band material 11 (with the exception of the core area 12), it is also possible to have an embodiment of the training band 10 in which a plurality of elastic strands are interwoven with fabric fibers. In this case, the elastic strands run in the longitudinal direction of the training band 10 and the fabric fibers run in a direction transverse thereto.

In such a training band 10, at least one, preferably more, of the elastic strands are formed to be conductive, for example by using a conductive polymer or by adding conductive particles. The conductive elastic strands functionally constitute the core region 12 of the previously described exercise band 10. A mechanical and electrical connection of such a band material 10 with the thickening 13 applied at the end can be carried out analogously to the previously described embodiments. Alternatively, it is also conceivable to sew an end region of the band material thus configured to the thickening in order to create a firm and secure connection.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described in detail by way of preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited by the examples disclosed, and other variations can be derived from these by the person skilled in the art without leaving the scope of the invention. It is therefore clear that there is a plurality of possible variations. It is also clear that embodiments stated by way of example are only really examples that are not to be seen as limiting the scope, application possibilities or configuration of the invention in any way. In fact, the preceding description and the description of the figures enable the person skilled in the art to implement the exemplary embodiments in concrete manner, wherein, with the knowledge of the disclosed inventive concept, the person skilled in the art is able to undertake various changes, for example, with regard to the functioning or arrangement of individual elements stated in an exemplary embodiment without leaving the scope of the invention, which is defined by the claims and their legal equivalents, such as further explanations in the description.

REFERENCE SIGN

-   10 Training Band -   11 Band material -   12 Core area -   13 Thickening -   14 Tongue -   15 Edging -   16 Recess -   17 Groove -   18 Slot -   20 Measuring unit -   21 Housing -   22 Groove -   23 Printed circuit board -   24 Contact surface -   25 Trough -   26 Rib -   27 Actuating element -   28 Electrical or electronic component -   29 Mounting bracket 

1-12. (canceled)
 13. A training device, comprising: an elastic training band with an integrated strain sensor; and an electronic measuring unit, wherein ends of the elastic training band include a thickening that locally enlarges a cross-section of the elastic training band.
 14. The training device of claim 13, wherein the thickening is made of a same base material as the elastic training band.
 15. The training device of claim 13, wherein the thickening is made of a different material than a base material of the elastic training band.
 16. The training device of claim 15, wherein the thickening comprises a tougher or harder material that is less stretchable than a material of the elastic training band.
 17. The training device of claim 13, wherein the thickening is integrally formed with a band portion of the elastic training band.
 18. The training device of claim 13, wherein at least one groove is formed in a housing of the electronic measuring unit into which the thickening is insertable.
 19. The training device of claim 13, wherein at least one rib is formed in a housing of the electronic measuring unit, wherein the at least one rib engages in a groove of the thickening.
 20. The training device of claim 13, wherein the thickening is electrically conductive and electrically connected to an electrically conductive core portion of the elastic training band.
 21. The training device of claim 13, wherein the thickening is directly contacted with a printed circuit board in a housing of the electronic measuring unit to establish an electrical connection.
 22. The training device of claim 21, wherein a portion of the electrically conductive thickening protrudes from the housing.
 23. The training device of claim 13, wherein the training band with the thickening is interchangeable with different housings or electronic measuring units.
 24. The training device of claim 13, wherein the elastic training band has a constriction or recess within the thickening to secure the elastic training band in a housing of the electronic measuring unit. 